Nov 10, 2006
Well, turns out the cleaning person was in the hospital with pneumonia! We decided this was a reasonable excuse for not showing up and are having her come next week ;-).
Nov 11, 2006
Michel Smith came over to see if Gary could transfer into his SUV, with help. First Gary thought it might be easier to get into the back seat because there was more room to maneuver, so he and I tried that uphill transfer with a transfer board. But we couldn’t figure out a way to do it successfully (without having someone actually pick Gary up) – we only got him about halfway up the board. So next we tried to do a transfer into the front seat, and it worked! Going into the front seat he had the front door to hang onto and help him, whereas the back seat had a sliding door that gave him nothing to hold onto. I gave Gary a bit more aid than usual during the transfer, mainly in preventing him from sliding back down the board as he did little hops up the incline, but I didn’t really try to pull him up the board. Transferring back out of the car – downhill – was a piece of cake. We showed Michel how to break down the wheelchair, and it fit easily onto the back seat of his car when placed upside down. Michel put the chair back together again, and then it was his turn to help Gary do the transfer. I am going to claim that Michel gave Gary much more lift than was my intention to do – surely it can’t be because Michel is stronger than me ;-) – and the transfer went beautifully. Gary was delighted. Michel has offered to drive Gary home on Mondays after the seminar Michel runs and Gary is attending. This way Gary will have some nice company for the trip and he won’t have to wait around for the bus.
However, we discovered in the evening that his uphill transfers from the wheelchair to the futon still need practice before I start standing away from him (he came up short and I had to pull him back onto the futon -- he ended up in an awkward position on his side, and it took us a little thinking of how to get him in a seated position again). For his transfers between the wheelchair and bed, I am probably about ten feet away. If he’s ready to try it, tomorrow I will be out of his sight around the corner.
At bedtime, after I congratulated Gary again for his successful SUV transfer, he thanked me for my encouragement throughout his attempts at it; he said I really supported him, and he appreciated it :-)
Well, turns out the cleaning person was in the hospital with pneumonia! We decided this was a reasonable excuse for not showing up and are having her come next week ;-).
Nov 11, 2006
Michel Smith came over to see if Gary could transfer into his SUV, with help. First Gary thought it might be easier to get into the back seat because there was more room to maneuver, so he and I tried that uphill transfer with a transfer board. But we couldn’t figure out a way to do it successfully (without having someone actually pick Gary up) – we only got him about halfway up the board. So next we tried to do a transfer into the front seat, and it worked! Going into the front seat he had the front door to hang onto and help him, whereas the back seat had a sliding door that gave him nothing to hold onto. I gave Gary a bit more aid than usual during the transfer, mainly in preventing him from sliding back down the board as he did little hops up the incline, but I didn’t really try to pull him up the board. Transferring back out of the car – downhill – was a piece of cake. We showed Michel how to break down the wheelchair, and it fit easily onto the back seat of his car when placed upside down. Michel put the chair back together again, and then it was his turn to help Gary do the transfer. I am going to claim that Michel gave Gary much more lift than was my intention to do – surely it can’t be because Michel is stronger than me ;-) – and the transfer went beautifully. Gary was delighted. Michel has offered to drive Gary home on Mondays after the seminar Michel runs and Gary is attending. This way Gary will have some nice company for the trip and he won’t have to wait around for the bus.
However, we discovered in the evening that his uphill transfers from the wheelchair to the futon still need practice before I start standing away from him (he came up short and I had to pull him back onto the futon -- he ended up in an awkward position on his side, and it took us a little thinking of how to get him in a seated position again). For his transfers between the wheelchair and bed, I am probably about ten feet away. If he’s ready to try it, tomorrow I will be out of his sight around the corner.
At bedtime, after I congratulated Gary again for his successful SUV transfer, he thanked me for my encouragement throughout his attempts at it; he said I really supported him, and he appreciated it :-)
posted by Peg Daniels at 8:38 PM
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